Munnar, Kerala, was the place that got me enthralled with space. Walking at night around the hillside resort, my eyes never saw the ground. All I could see was the long, winding band of stars, which we call the Milky Way. It looked beautiful and mysterious. I wanted to further explore it- the dark skies beyond.
Years went by. I read books, saw documentaries on space. Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking became my guides. I wanted to make NASA my playground, but life has its ways. While meandering through school years, I realised Science as a subject was not my cup of tea, but I still held a particular love and interest in the night skies! The urge to explain the unexplained and what lies beyond our planet never left me.
A couple of years ago, my friend and I were watching a documentary by Stephen Hawking in which he mentioned the Higgs-Boson, popularly known as the God particle. The Higgs Boson is to the atom, what the core is to the Earth. My friend asked me a simple question, “How do you feel the Higgs-Boson affects the atom and its working?” I thought over it for a few minutes and came up with the answer. Well, the answer was not just a few sentences, but a few pages long. I came up with a theory, not just about the Higgs-Boson, but also about how the universe and the atom have a relationship. It has set many experienced scientists thinking and as a humanities student, I feel proud and happy to have accomplished it!
The main question that went through my mind while writing was, “How does the Higgs Boson get the energy to affect the working of the atom?” I came up with the idea that within it, the energy might be stored in the form of strings and these in all probability provide energy to the atom to sustain itself.
In simpler words, the God particle is nothing else but a container for pure energy stored in vibrating strings. The same energy that helps in providing charge to the electrons and protons of the atom as well as keeps it in shape.
We have atoms all over our universe. According to me, the universe is made up of various dimensions or layers, each bursting with atoms. These layers give the universe its shape and properties, similar to how in a cake, its layers give it its shape and distinguished taste.
I feel that when two of the dimensions come in contact with each other, they produce a type of energy called Dark Energy. This energy is still an enigma, but my theory tries to explain it. It is the Dark energy that interacts with the vibrating strings inside the Higgs Boson to produce the different types of energies we see today such as, Light, Gravity, Sound, etc.
Dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries scientists around the world are trying to unravel. Light will be thrown on it hopefully soon, but to me, it forms the basis for understanding our universe and will help us reveal many more of its secrets.
-Ameya Sanzgiri, 12A